Verity

This was an ….um…. interesting book. I honestly don’t know if I liked it or not, but I do know I will not be recommending it to others for two reasons: 1. Definitely a psychological thriller à la “Gone Girl” (a book which I did not care for). I’ve met a lot of people lately who really don’t like this genre, so if that’s you, steer clear. 2. There is a lot of sex in this book, so much so that it reminded me of “50 Shades of Grey.” Granted, there is not the BDSM angle, but graphic sex is definitely one of this books’ prevalent themes. Now with all that being said, this book did have some redeeming characteristics. Colleen Hoover certainly held my attention throughout the suspense/mystery portion and left me guessing on how it would end. And I’m not disappointed by the ending; in fact, I’m still mulling it over, trying to wrap my brain around it all. I also enjoyed her first-person writing style, but I don’t miss any of the characters now that I’m done with the book, and I won’t re-read it. I was attracted to this book initially because Goodreads has an average rating of 4.34 from 264,509 people, so when I say I didn’t enjoy it, I’m wondering if I missed the point somehow. Of course, I didn’t like the two books it reminded me of (“Gone Girl” and “50 Shades”), which also have high Goodreads numbers, so maybe I’m just an anomaly here. Either way, I won’t recommend it for anyone to read unless they go in knowing what’s in store first. P.S. This book should NOT be confused with “Code Name Verity” by Elizabeth Wein. I read that book several years ago and it remains one of my favorites.